Pregnant with Period?

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2004
Pregnant with Period?
3
Tue, 08-17-2004 - 3:58pm
I was curious...I heard that even if you are takign birth control pills and becoem pregnant, you will still have your period and may not know you are pregnant until a couple months into the pregnancy. I am on Ortho-Tri Cyclen...could this happen?? How many months could you go before you know you are pregnant?? Thanks!
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-23-2004
Tue, 08-17-2004 - 4:26pm
This is a concern of mine too. A friend of mine had a cousin who had her period the entire 9 months of her pregnancy! I guess she is fairly overweight, so her growing tummy wasn't as noticable. Just to make sure, you should use 2 forms of BC.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 08-18-2004 - 8:34am
Having a true, regular, and unaffected period in pregnancy isn't common. Even if you're on the pill, if you were to get pregnant, the same things would happen as if you weren't on the pill. You have your period during the last week of pills because there's no hormones in them--if you take away the hormones that have been keeping you from bleeding (because you're not having regular ovulatory cycles that normally schedule your periods), then you'll bleed. Once an embryo is implanted in the uterus, there is increased progesterone production. Even if you take away the pills, that progesterone from the embryo is still there and should keep the lining of your uterus mostly stable. Most women who get pregnant on the pill will indeed stop having periods, or at the very least their periods will be much lighter, which can be a big clue.
Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2004
Wed, 08-18-2004 - 8:51am
Thanks for clearing that up for me! I must say my last perios was very light, like unusually light, the only time I really had bleeding was when I urinated. It was so light that i couldn't even use tampons, they were very uncomfortable. I think this was just a one time thing though, I really don't think I am pregnant.